J.C. Bradbury

Proposal/ Reality

Breaking News - Chattanoogan.com County Attorney Janie Parks Varnell said in a letter that a lack of development around the new Erlanger Park is poised to harm taxpayers. She said under current projections the delay would result in an approximate shortfall of $880,000 per year, or approximately $73,300 per month." A large portion of that amount had been projected to be covered by incremental tax revenue generated by the area around the stadium, which is set to open in a month as the new home of the Chattanooga Lookouts. The letter was sent to master site developer Jim Irwin and Gary Chazen and Andy Stone of Perimeter Properties, owner of the foundry site. Mr. Stone and Mr. Irwin said, “We have participated ... (click for more)

If only there had been some sort of indication that this is exactly what would happen...

County Attorney Says Lack Of Development At Stadium Site To Hurt Taxpayers - Chattanoogan.com share.google/n3gN92vAxDpe...

Literally shouted down.

Cobb leaders shouted down Braves stadium opponents as naysayers, insisting future financial returns would prove their case. When they showed the opposite, they lied and said they were vindicated. The blind faith in stadium projects is so strong that it persists, even in hindsight.

Let me explain what's going on here. The Braves Development Co CEO and Cobb County CFO are saying that bc the blue number > red number the stadium is paying for itself. Guys, that's a big fat F on your public finance homework. This is so bad. x.com/jc_bradbury/...

The folks who zealously backed (and continue to back) this pet project are selectively reporting financial figures to make it appear that the stadium is paying back its public cost. It's not. STOP repeating these ridiculous assertions. A Twitter threads I wrote on this. x.com/jc_bradbury/...

This is so bad. The economist (me) who has studied this deal more than anyone has found that Truist Park continues to lose about the same amount of money it was always losing. Please don't counter real research with numbers from motivated bureaucrats, cooked up with the Braves.

Gotta love that Rays stadium plan! Also, gotta know what it’ll cost The Rays began reaching out in community forums this week, but they’re still a little vague on the public’s portion of the bill.

And now Rays stadium backers are repeating a debunked booster talking point about the Truist Park/Battery project to promote the false hope that the Tampa plan will work.

Love the Tim Tucker byline.

Time is a flat circle.

What's worse is that these people are getting away with it. They're giving $1.8 BILLION of taxpayer money to a private leisure business owned by a family of nepo-babies, and the officials in charge don't even pretend to care if there is really a serious policy case for it.

The Unified Government pledged up to $450 million to repay STAR bonds for the Chiefs' new stadium based on a two-page spreadsheet and a 'best guess' analysis it has not fully explained.

I look forward to seeing this published in the Journal of Best Guess Analysis.

This "study" sure seems solid.

Chiefs stadium study remains mostly hidden as UG pledges $450M in local taxes - Kansas City Business Journal Wyandotte County released only two pages of a financial study backing its $450 million pledge for a Chiefs stadium, leaving key cost details unclear.

Wyandotte County released only two pages of a financial study backing its $450 million pledge for a Chiefs stadium, leaving key cost details unclear.

It's disgusting to see these wealthy privateers seeking to extract even more resources from local communities, while engaging it deliberate bad faith negotiations.

Correction Yesterday’s newsletter said a bill that would eliminate property taxes on single-family primary residences had passed a committee. Lawmakers amended the bill so that it would reduce property taxes, but not eliminate them.

Whoopsies! And as best I can tell, the legislation reimburses local governments for reducing property taxes (there is no state property tax any more), but I can't tell exactly how this would work because the bill wasn't posted last time I checked.

It is impossible for government to devote $1.15 billion of public resources to build a stadium at no cost to taxpayers. www.tampabay.com/news/educati...

At the time he said the sale "has been in the works for about a year." The land swap was completed less than a year later, with certain assurances to community, yet conditions were not included in sale.

Provocative film executive enters Georgia House race with $4M pledge Atlanta film executive Ryan Millsap is challenging GOP front-runner Houston Gaines to succeed U.S. Rep. Mike Collins in Congress.

Is anyone going to bring up the controversial land swap this guy did with DeKalb County? After making numerous promises to the community, he cashed in and sold his studio without assurances that the promises would be kept.

Chicago Fire breaks ground on $750 million stadium at The 78 The 22,000-seat stadium, bankrolled by the Fire’s billionaire owner, Joe Mansueto, is expected to be complete in time for the team’s 2028-29 season.

Previously this deal had been described as including a public contribution for surrounding infrastructure (whatever that means), perhaps funded by a TIF tax, but I'm not seeing it mentioned in recent stories. Is that still happening?

Terry McGuirk

Cursed or reaping what it sows.

WTF is this paid advertisement doing in the middle of today's AJC newsletter? I know you have to make money, but this crosses a line. An uncareful reader could easily mistake this paid propaganda for an opinion promoted by the newspaper.

I wish. 🙂

Just got an e-mail from the Savannah Bananas, and I have never marked a message as spam faster than that.

Brook Park releases dome preliminary development plan, pushes for $25M in federal infrastructure funding Brook Park leaders have released hundreds of pages of documents outlining plans for the city’s multi-billion-dollar domed stadium project.

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has a net worth approaching $9 billion, which he mostly inherited. buff.ly/y5K7FpT

Seems like the kind of starter Atlanta could have used some of its bounteous Battery money to sign.

It's a shame the PD has such shoddy leadership, because it has some good journalists on the beat. Rich Exner's coverage of stadium deals has been excellent.